Last month Premier Thaksin said that public opinions were needed to see whether the majority of the Thai population would agree with a new proposed law to regulate gun ownership in Thailand.
The Interior Minister, Wan Muhamad Noor Matha had earlier proposed a new law to ban the sale of guns in Thailand, to reduce the violent crime cases involving guns and firearms.
Under the proposed plan, the many gun traders in Thailand would be given a period of five years to prepare themselves for other occupations. After the gun ban would take effect, only people with a license, the military and the police would be allowed to possess and carry firearms.
Today, most people in Thailand disagree with the government's new proposed policy on banning guns, reasoning that they need to own a handgun for their own protection and that of their families, according to a poll, made last week.
The poll has been conducted by Bangkok's Ramkamhaeng University's Research and Development Institute on "Whether people in Thailand feel the need to own guns in today's Thai society". The poll on guns was conducted on a random sample of more than 4,000 Thais.
The result was that 79% of the Thai population viewed that they should be further allowed to own their own gun for their personal protection and that of their families from burglary, attackers and home robbery.
Others disagreed with gun ownership in Thailand, saying there is high enough safety provided in modern Thai society; While 63.8% said Thai police are currently performing well in the protection of people's safety and only 50.2% viewed that free gun possession could lead to more violence and crimes in Thailand.
The university poll further showed that 50.2% of the Thai population agreed that the proposed ban on guns would help solve the youth violence while 49.8% disagreed on that matter.
Asked whom could offer minimum safety and protection for their life and property, 19.8% said they have little confidence in security guards, 12.6% said they have no confidence in the Thai police and 10.3% answered they do not trust the military in Thailand.
